Document 4 Pathways to Prevention

Academic/Environmental Analysis

Sample Summary of Observations ( Post Primary:ALEX)

Suggested Environmental Considerations
Readiness for Learning (Personal Needs) / Can they be altered or considered and if so (by) Who/What/How
Diet /
  • Has the student had sufficient nourishment prior to the school day

Sleep /
  • Is the student tired? Do they require time to rest prior to starting learning

Wellness /
  • Any Illness present.

Anxiety Levels /
  • Is there a support structure or a mechanism for Anxiety Management, that has been established and is it functioning throughout the school day. (e.g. Tony Attwood-Energy Accounting/Emotional Toolkit)

Sensory issues / Physical Environment /
  • Has underlying sensory issues been looked at or what amendments could be made to the physical environment in order to make it conducive to students accessing the curriculum

Sensory Issues considered-
1). Visual
2). Auditory
3). Smell
4).Tactile / Touch
5) Vestibular System
6). Proprioceptive System
7). Taste. /
  • 1). Is there too much visual distractions that the student can not filter
  • 2).acoustics or noises within the school that may affect an individual (intercom/general hustle and bustle etc)
  • 3). overwhelming scents from their adolescent peers? Does the smell from cooking or science experiments affect them? is there a canteen in the school?
  • 4). think people bumping into them/encroaching on personal space/working with paints or other mediums, think biology dissecting classes, think an annoying/itchy uniform etc.
  • 5).have enough opportunities to access feedback through the vestibular system
  • 6).have enough opportunities to access feedback through the proprioceptive system
  • 7).opportunities to have or avoid certain foods (tasteoutcome in Home Ec for example)
Mechanism for sensory regulation. Are opportunities available for the student to engage in sensory regulatory activities throughout the school day
Physical Environment Considerations /
  • The location of the home room in relation to subject areas
  • The layout of the Home room versus other subject choices
  • Transition issues from one area to another, i.e up and down stairs, long busy corridors, one way systems versus 2 way
  • Location of toilets near classes
  • Desk top sizes
  • Type of seating...separate chair or a chair with a desk arm for example..student has more space and room to manoeuvre in a separate chair
  • Are there big open spaces unstructured/structured etc?

Scheduling / Transitions
Order of subjects /
  • Are there scheduling and transitioning issues to be considered if subject locations vary across schools, or of they run doubles etc....do breaks in between doubles need to be considered..specifically some type of movement break

Have patterns for potential “hot-points” in the day been identified- /
  • Can this pattern be represented to ALL of the student’s teachers across the day in a quick reference clear visual representation.

Is there a simple checklist in place that can be shared with the student’s teachers. /
  • to alert the other teachers to any issues and also to make them aware of how the student might be presenting if they are highly anxious (and what strategies are in place to support the student) and/ or are in need of a sensory break during the day.
  • Is there an objective written hierarchy of behaviours that enables different teachers intervene at the earliest possible opportunity..promotes transfer of information and consistency in approaches

Social Needs
Are there opportunities in place for the student to engage in positive peer interactions throughout the day /
  • (clubs, joint interests etc…)

Are there opportunities in place for the student to engage in positive staff interactions throughout the day /
  • Is there a particular member of staff that the student gravitates towards that could provide re-assurance and reinforcement if required

If the student is not engaged with his/her peers at lunch/break times /
  • what alternatives are in place to avoid isolation (if required)

Does the student have opportunities to work alone if this is something that is required from time to time. /
  • Do they like working alone?

Academic Needs
Are visual supports in place for student to transition from class to class; /
  • e.g. colour coding books, colour code class –room door etc.

Have all the student’s subjects been assessed and identified for which subjects require differentiated tasks. /
  • This may require a specific subject requirements assessment as an appendix. (See attached as an example)

Are there mechanisms in place for the subject teacher to support student’s anxiety. /
  • Related to the checklist as mentioned above , where every teacher has the same consistent approach with an individual

Are tasks differentiated for student : consider graphic organisers, advanced organisers. /
  • See Managing Information-Teachers Tool kit JCT.ie

Are there splinter skills present that need to be addressed? /
  • Can the student appropriately express feelings and emotions in whatever manner (verbally, writing it down , pointing to visuals (remember auditory system shuts down when in crisis)..they may be in secondary schools but have these foundation skills been explicitly taught, reliably maintained, and readily generalised?

  • Opportunities for success and Relevance for Life-Long Goals

  • Are their opportunities for the student to experience and display successful achievements in-built within the school-wide system
/
  • How are these successes visually displayed in the school building, or how are the acknowledged.

  • Have the student’s life-long goals been identified and discussed with the student.
/
  • Have they had some level of choice within their school years

  • Have the student’s life-long goals been linked to the relevance of
academic subjects chosen-detail
social activities chosen-detail
sporting activities chosen-detail /
  • This may require a separate individual education plan for the student.

  • Behaviour Support Plan

Is there a Behaviour Support Plan in place for this student and for the staff that support the student /
  • If so, who is responsible for this?(devising it / disseminating it etc)..is it logistically possible?
  • Is there a clearly outlined definition of the behaviour, outline of the triggers, outline of the hierarchy of behaviours which provide guidance / checklist to staff of when to intervene, how to intervene,
  • An outline of a post meltdown episode debriefing for individual AND staff
Session 8 will go into the above in more detail.
  • Has it been communicated to the student and parents and has the student been involved in the devising of it
  • If required, has it been approved by the Principal, and ratified/sanctioned by BOM

Other: Can you think of other considerations in YOUR setting

The above is a sample environmental assessment that is not exhaustive but provides guidance around contributing variables that need to be considered for many of our SEN students...your workplace may vary and there may be some of the above factors more applicable than others, but this should help guide your process ....you’’ll note the sequence of considerations BEFORE the academic considerations

Appendix 1

Weekly Subject requirements checklist

Name

Date

Subject / Differentiation Required / Resources Required / Anxiety Management strategy in place / Organiser/Facilitator
English
Maths
History
Science

Daly, P.M., (2016)Five Strategies for Making Schools Better Places to be for Children at Risk for Dropping Out. Presented at ILSA National Conference, Tullow.